Sweet Lorane Community News, June 28, 2018

June 28, 2018Newspaper ColumnsAlix Mosieur, Brent Haxby, Karen Pidgeon, Kevin Stevens, Lorane Mural Project, Matuchlatpaedwards Leave a comment

Fern Ridge Review
Creswell Chronicle
Sweet Lorane Community News
June 28, 2018
By Pat Edwards

Where did June go? I’ve always held the theory that once the 4th of July is past, summer will soon be over. It seems to go so fast between July 4 and September 1.

I gave you a whole bunch of information on the closest upcoming events in Lorane in last week’s column, so I’m not going to repeat it in this one except for a couple of last-minute mentions.

There are still raffle tickets and memory bracelets available for the Amber and Michael Matchulat Fundraiser on July 7. Check out the Lorane and Crow Facebook pages for more information about the bracelets. As for the raffle, you don’t need to be present to win.

The beautiful Lorane mural will be ready for its unveiling on August 12. Lorane artists, Karen Pidgeon and Alix Mosieur have been working on it since last fall, and it’s going to be something that the whole community and those who visit can enjoy. They have been working on it inside the old Dew Drop Inn building next to the Lorane Family Store. Our grandsons, Kevin Stevens and Brent Haxby, just poured the foundation forms for the structure from which it will hang in front of the store, bordering Territorial Road. It will have its own support structure and lighting and will be under a wood-shake roof to help protect it from the weather. Karen and Alix are adding a fun “Where’s Waldo” feature to it where you are asked to find certain little animals and other hidden treasures in the painting. The plan is to have a fenced eating area near it, as well, but it will come a bit later when we figure out where it would best be placed. I hope that everyone will plan to stop by and see it “up close and personal” after it is finished.

I have to pass on a hilarious story to prove that “gettin’ old sure ain’t for sissies!”

A few days ago, Jim and I decided to buy a nice lawn swing with reclining seats. They were on sale, and I’ve been needing a place to go outside in the sunshine to kick back and relax with a good book and a cold drink while the weather is nice. We didn’t take into account the fact that once we got it home, we’d have to put it together.

All done!

Well, that afternoon we got the upright structure done fairly easily, but then came the framework on which the recliners would rest. That had to be done on the ground.

For any of you who have entered your seventh decade, you know that getting down is easy, but getting back up is not only not easy—it can be downright embarrassing if anyone is watching. For Jim it was especially hard since he has had both hips replaced.

Well, we were down on our hands and knees on our blacktop driveway, bolting all the many places that needed it, scooting along on our seats or crawling if we had to move to another portion to find the right-size nut or bolt. Suddenly, our dogs started barking and I looked up to see a car at the end of our rather long driveway with a woman standing at the gate, not wanting to come in because of the dogs.

I struggled to my feet and went to see what she needed. When I got to the gate, she said with a worried look, “Is everything ok? I was driving by and saw you and your husband crawling on the ground and wanted to make sure you were both all right.”

I was mortified, but so grateful to her. I began thanking her profusely for her concern and she seemed quite relieved that we were ok. We must have been a sight. I felt a warm glow to know that our neighbors and even strangers are willing to look out for those of us who may be having difficulty. It’s a story that we will laugh and tell frequently as we picture what we must have looked like.

Thank you, thank you to our guardian angel. Your concern meant so very much to both of us.

Sweet Lorane Community News, August 27, 2015

August 27, 2015Newspaper ColumnsAll Things Lorane, Bjornstad, Cooper, Goodheart, Lorane, Lorane Elementary School, Matuchlat, Mychel Matchy, Rich Mitchellpaedwards Leave a comment

Fern Ridge Review
Creswell Chronicle
Sweet Lorane Community News
August 27, 2015
By Pat Edwards

Two of our Lorane residents who “vacationed” part of last week at RiverBend are once again home. Marilyn Wenger Cooper, our long-time clerk at the Lorane Family Store, was taken to the hospital by ambulance due to an irregular heartbeat. It took several days to get her meds adjusted so that her heart settled back into a normal rhythm. Welcome home, Marilyn!… and yes, your spot at the store will always be waiting for you1

Michael Matchulat spent a couple of days there, as well. He had all of us rather worried, but when he began to feel better, he began mugging for the camera and the pictures were posted on his Facebook page to show all of us that he was feeling better. His wonderful sense of humor comes through in the name he uses for his Facebook account, too… one that had me wondering at first, “Who is this Mychel Matchy who was trying to friend me?” Welcome home, Michael!

This news is rather late, but I’ve been holding off saying anything about it in this column until I knew a few more details. Most everyone has heard, I think, that the Lorane Elementary School property has once again changed hands. Long-time resident, Rich Mitchell, has purchased the property from Nolan Scheid who was awarded the bid from the school district. Actually, according to Rich, “It is a family endeavor. I am married to Denice Goodheart and Olivia and Sarah Goodheart are our two daughters. We are collectively committed to it’s success.”

The papers were signed in late July and the school building, itself, has been undergoing some major restorative surgery… a furnace has been installed and new roofing put on the school.

According to Rich, “I feel we have succeeded in preserving the building for at least 50 more years. The infrastructure is solid and we are making up for 20 years of deferred maintenance by removing any rot, installing some new toilets and sinks, getting professionals in to handle the plaster and other trades-related issues…”

This, in itself, is cause for celebration as it means that the former school will remain part of our landscape, but the full scope of project is not ready to discuss.

I hope to get together with Rich and Tim Bjornstad, whom Rich describes as the project’s “program director and community liaison” to write an article on the visions and plans that they have for the school buildings and property once they are ready to share those plans with us. We’re all curious and very thankful that the property is getting the care that we envisioned for it. Thank you, Rich and Tim!

Jo-Brew and I received some wonderful news this past week. Upon doing a casual check with our book supplier to see if we have sold many of our Highway 99 books this month, I got quite a shock. Our royalty report says that we have sold over 1,200 books in August. We’re almost positive that they were purchased by Costco which has been interested in them. If that’s the case, they should be in quite a few stores throughout Oregon by the holiday season. So exciting!!

For those interested, I’ve set up a new personal website which will eventually host all of my past columns that I’ve written for both the Fern Ridge Review and the Creswell Chronicle. I’ll post each new column a week after I’ve written them. In addition, I’m including many of the other things I’ve written over the years including two Lorane newsletters, personal profiles on people I’ve interviewed and some of my personal experience non-fiction. So far, I have my last 10 columns loaded, two newsletter issues and some other more recent essays and profiles. It’s set up like a blog and I’d love to have those of you who visit register to have new emails sent whenever I post something new and, even more important, leave comments. It’s at http://allthingslorane.com. (One note about navigating it which is something I haven’t resolved yet… you’ll need to click on the salmon-colored border on the left hand side the screen to make a secret slide-out menu open to give you more options for viewing.) I still have much to learn on setting it up.

Remember – September 12 is the Lorane Celebration!

Sweet Lorane Community News – August 13, 2015

August 13, 2015Newspaper ColumnsChambers Mill Fire, Forest Fire, Lorane, Lorane Wildfire, Matuchlat, Oregonpaedwards Leave a comment

Fern Ridge Review
Creswell Chronicle
Sweet Lorane Community News
August 13, 2015
By Pat Edwards

Lorane has been in the news for several days this past week and the wildfire that threatened homes in our area has consumed all of us. Today is Friday, August 14, as I’m writing this. I’ve gone over my deadline, but there was just too much going on with the fire during the past two days that I wasn’t able to focus on writing the column. I am the administrator of the Lorane Facebook page and I was kept constantly busy monitoring it and giving permissions to the 79 new people who requested to join it in order to get the news of the fire and to comment on postings. Also, I wanted to be able to write a happy ending to it for this week’s column.

I’ve waited long enough – our happy ending is in sight, even if the fire has not yet been fully contained at this point. The weather is teasing us with possible rain and a few stray “mistings” this morning. I don’t know if anything will come of it, but it feels good and it has slowed down the progress of the fire, itself. The official word is that it has burned 180 acres and is 70% contained after coming within 75 feet of the Matchulat home, near where it started. Yes, that’s the same Matchulat family that has been mentioned in this column in recent weeks. Fortunately, the Matchulat’s were spending a few quiet days at the beach to rest up from the furious rounds of fundraisers put on to help with son Michael’s medical expenses following a diagnosis of Stage IV colorectal cancer.

The fire has been determined to be human-caused and started along the roadway on South Territorial Road just north of the Matchulat home. It quickly spread through dry grass and into a group of trees near the home and began racing up the hill next to the house. Lorane resident, Cherie Lutman, called 911 and then made a call to lifetime Lorane resident, Gary Thompson since she couldn’t rouse the Matchulats. Gary and his wife Lil rushed to the blaze and immediately saw that it was heading towards the Matchulat’s house. Gary turned on hoses and climbed to the roof of the house. He and Lil sprayed down everything as they watched the fire get closer and closer. The Lorane Fire Department volunteers and air support were soon there and they began the work of keeping the fire at bay. With the help of others who had arrived, they went inside and collected as many of the Matchulat’s photos and personal items as they could in case they were not able to save the house. Without the Thompsons’ quick thinking and their concern for their friends and neighbors, that could easily have been the outcome. Fortunately, with the barrage of water dumps from the air and fire hoses on the ground, the fire’s force focused on the trees and the dry grass above the house and the immediate danger was over. But, Gary and Lil and others who had arrived, stayed on the scene to make sure that stray embers from the burgeoning fire did not land on the roof.

In the meantime, crews from the Western Lane division of the Oregon Department of Forestry began trying to contain the fire. They put out a priority alert and other crews began arriving from as far away as McKenzie and Lowell Fire Districts. Helicopters and air tankers continued dumping water and retardants on the fire. Local resident, Bruce McDonald, and others who had cats and heavy equipment began working on a fire line to try and keep the fire from spreading. The next day, more crews arrived. One of them, in five trucks, pulled into our store parking lot to get supplies before heading for the fire. They had been fighting the large Southern Oregon fire near Glide and their clothes still were fragrant with the smell of smoke. But, they knew that they were needed here, so they came.

We have a lot of heroes to thank… not only Cherie, Gary, Lil, Bruce and all of the local and out-of-area firefighters, but all of the people who were glued to their computers, reading and commenting on breaking news about the fire… the ones sending prayers and thanks to all who were working so hard to save the lives and homes of our residents. I have a special soft-spot in my heart for those who offered help in the form of providing food and drink for the firefighters, making trailers and transportation available for threatened livestock and beds for anyone who became displaced by the fire. All are heroes in my estimation.

I’m very proud of our community and of all of those who showed their concern. Thank you.